Padded horseshoe calk



E. MATTHEWS PADDED HORSESHOE CALK Flled Feb 26 1934 Nov. 19, 1935.

lc'p El .lnuefilmr Edward Il'latthams Patented Nov. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in padded horse shoe calks and the object of my invention is to provide an adjustable resilient pad or calk which is so formed in relation to the standard type of horse shoe, to'which it is adapted to be attached, that it can be secured in place upon the shoe under the pressure of its own resiliency.

A further object of my invention is to form the pad of rubber and embed the head portions of a pair of calks therein in such a manner that the shanks of the calks protrude in spaced apart relation and are adapted to be received within a pair of calk shank receiving orifices in the shoe,

the shanks being spaced apart in the pad a greater distance than the distance between the shank receiving orifices, so that the pad has to be compressed to move the shanks towards each other until they are spaced apart the correct distance for insertion into the orifices in the shoe.

A further and particular object of my invention is to space the shanks apart a sufficient distance in the pad so that such distance is always greater than the distance between the orifices irrespective of any alteration made to the shoe in fitting it to the horses hoof, for example, there are a pair of orifices normally provided in the toe portion of the shoe and, if it is necessary to widen the toe portion of the shoe, it is hammered 3O out between the orifices thus moving the orifices apart a greater width than their standard spacing.

Another object of my invention is to utilize the compressed resiliency of the pad as a means 35-; for securing the shanks in the shoe orifices, irrespective of whether the tapered shanks are of a size tobe freely insertable into the orifices or of a slightly larger size to be driven in as in standard practice.

51 A further object of my invention is to provide a rubber calk or pad having shanks protruding therefrom, wherein the calk is adjustable to permit the insertion of the shanks in shoe orifices having various spaced apart relations.

45 A still further object of my invention is to embed sharp hardened steel calks in my rubber pad, wherein the calk edges form part of the tread face, thus enabling the horse to get a grip on icy pavements.

50 My invention consists of a horse shoe pad formed and arranged all as hereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a broken away 55 toe portion of a horse shoe together with one'of my pads held between the jaws of a compression tongs before the pad is positioned upon the shoe.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the heel portion of a shoe showing my pad affixed thereto through the insertion of the 5 calk shanks into its orifices.

Figure 3 is a transverse cross sectional view through the pad and shoe as illustrated in Figure 2.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are plan views of my pad 10 showing various constructions which I may use for making the centre portions of the pads more easily compressible and,

Figure 7 is a side elevational view of another form of pad wherein a transverse horizontal 15 orifice is provided instead of vertical orifices, as shown in the other figures.

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different views in the drawing. 20

My pads are designed for attachment to the standard type of factory-made horse shoes wherein the shoe, as illustrated in the drawing, is furnished with three pairs of calk receiving orifices, one pair of orifices [0 being furnished 25 in the toe ll of the shoe and a pair of orifices l2 furnished in each of the heel portions l3 of the shoe. In my invention I furnish three pads l4 formed of rubber or other suitable material in lieu of the usual metallic calks, with the object of deadening the sound of the horses tread on paved streets. v

I preferably form my tapered shanks I5 of substantially the same size as the tapered orifices l2 so that they, while a close fit, are readily insertable thereinto, as illustrated in Figure 2. The portions I6 of the calks as embedded in the rubber pad are preferably of wedge shape diametrically positioned across the enlarged heads ll of the shanks, so that the portions l6 have 40" v the same function as the metal calks.

The portions I6, as illustrated in Figure 2, are of truncated triangular form, so that the sloping end faces 25 form a dovetail bond between the portions and the rubber. By this construction the rubber cannot become detached from the portions l6 as thepad becomes worn down, and the portions 16 forming the metal calks are always surrounded by the rubber. In this way, the steel holds the horse against slipping on ice and the rubber against slipping on the pavement. 1

For securing my pad in place, I so dimension the pad and its protruding shanks l5 that the distance between the shanks is substantially greater than the distances between the orifices in which the shanks are received. For example, in Figure 1 the distances between the shanks l5 of the toe pad are greater than the distances between the orifices It. When securing the pad to the shoe, the pad is gripped at its ends and compressed as by the tongs I8. The compression of the pad moves the shanks [5 towards one another until the distance between the shanks approximates the distance between the orifices, at which time the shanks can be inserted into the orifices under hand pressure or the light tap of a hammer. When the tongs l8, or other squeezing element, is removed, the pad, which has been under compression, moves to restore itself to its original length and, in so doing, presses the shanks against the sides of their surrounding orifices, which pressure holds the pad in place on the shoe.

As the pads are formed of substantially hard tough rubber to withstand wear, they have a high resistance against compression and, therefore, in order to reduce this resistance to compression without softening the rubber I reduce the cross sectional area of rubber between the shanks. This can be done in a number of ways, as for example, by a plurality of vertical orifices l9, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, by a single vertical rectangular orifice 20 as illustrated in Figure 4, by a round vertical orifice 2! as illustrated in Figure 5, or a transverse horizontal orifice 22 as illustrated in Figure '7. In Figure 6, I show the cross sectional area of a pad 23 reduced by the formation of a central waisted portion 24.

In fitting the shoes, it is generally found necessary to alter the width of the shoe to fit the horses hoof and when this alteration is made at the toe by hammering out or contracting the portion of the shoe between the orifices ID, the distancebetween the orifices is, of course, altered, and, in view of this, I so design my pads that the protruding shanks are a sufiicient distance apart that such distance is always greater than the greatest distance produced between the orifices when the toe is widened. In other Words, if the toe of the shoe had to be widened to such a distance that it would not be necessary to compress the pad to insert the shanks, the horses hoof would really require a larger size of shoe with a correspondingly larger size of pad.

While the preferred embodiment of my invention contemplates the free insertion of my pad shanks into the shoe orifices and the utilization of the compressed pad as the sole means for retaining the pad in place, my compressible pad can also be used in conjunction with shanks which are driven into the shoe orifices as in standard practice. When this is done, the shanks will be retained within the orifices through being driven into place and also by the expansive action of the pad.

I have found that the expansion force of the compressed pad is quite sufficient to retain the pad in place upon the shoe even under abnormal conditions and, while I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that it is not my intention to limit myself to the specific construction shown and described, as my invention broadly contemplates the utilization of the expansive energy in a compressed rubber horse shoe pad as the means for securing such pad to the shoe.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A resilient toe calk for horse shoes comprising a compressible rubber pad, a pair of metal members embedded in the rubber pad and having shanks protruding from the latter in spaced apart relation and of a size to be received within a pair of spaced apart orifices in a shoe, the distance between the shanks being greater than the distance between the orifices, and the pad adapted to be compressed longitudinally to move the shanks together into substantially the same spaced apart relation as the orifices for insertion thereinto for causing the compressed rubber pad to exert pressure in opposite directions on the shanks for holding them in the shoe orifices, said rubber pad having an orifice therein for increasing its compressible and stretching characteristics.

2. A resilient toe calk for horse shoes comprising a compressible rubber pad, a pair of spaced apart metal V-shaped calks embedded in the pad and positioned to contact the ground, a pair of shanks formed on the calks and protruding from the pad and of a size to be insertable in a pair of spaced apart orifices in a shoe, the distance between the shanks being greater than the distance between the orifices, and the pad adapted to be compressed longitudinally to move the shanks together into substantially the same spaced apart relation as the orifices for insertion thereinto for causing the compressed rubber pad to exert pressure in opposite directions on the shanks for holding them in the shoe orifices, said rubber pad having an orifice therein for increasing its compressible and stretching characteristics.

3. The combination with a horse shoe having its toe portion provided with a pair of spaced apart sockets, the spacing of which is variable and dependent upon the deformation of the toe portion of the shoe to fit the foot of the horse to which the shoe is to be applied, of a resilient toe calk comprising a longitudinally compressible rubber pad, 2. pair of spaced apart metal members embedded in the rubber pad and having shanks protruding therefrom and of a size to be received into the sockets in the toe portion of the shoe when the rubber pad is compressed longitudinally, thereby, due to the resiliency of the rubber pad, causing the shanks to exert a pressure on the walls of the sockets for assisting in holding the shanks therein.

EDWARD MATTHEWS. 

